Parental Feelings
by Gindokei
Summary: Second in the Kikyo series. Kikyo wonders why she decided to adopt the demon slayer boy Kohaku. To keep his fragment pure, of course - but could there be another reason? Kikyo/Kohaku as mother/son... ish. T for safety.


_Parental Feelings_

**AN: I've decided to do a Kikyo series – a small thing, just embellishing on the more important parts of her life. The day she received the Shikon no Tama, the day she met Inuyasha, the day she died, the day she was resurrected, the day she made Inuyasha promise he would come to hell with her, the day she 'adopted' Kohaku and the day she died permanently.**

**The last one is already up, under 'In His Arms'. I think I'll be doing these backwards, seeing as the penultimate one, about her adopting Kohaku, is this one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters associated with the series. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.**

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**"Lady Kikyo."

His voice was quiet, but not out of uncertainty. In fact, she could detect no hesitancy at all coming from him. She heard a small hitch in his voice as she ignored his words and continued to walk on. Her long sleeves fluttered in the wind and pebbles slid under her slipper-clad feet. He had been following her for a while now. She had been impressed by his persistence, until she remembered that the boy's life force was tied to the Shikon fragment in his back, and he would not tire easily.

How strange, that the boy who was so much like herself was following her. He, too, should have died a long time ago, yet he continued to live. Kikyo paused for a heartbeat as he called her name again.

He sounded exhausted. Was that why he was calling her? To ask her to slow her pace, perhaps? But why was he trailing her in the first place? Kikyo exhaled slowly and started to walk once more. He was just a child, even after all he had been through – children often lost faith in the tenacity of their bodies long before their strength had been fully used. She was not worried about his supposed weariness. After all, if he grew too tired, he could always stop.

Her shikigami floated next to her, one flanking her each side. They were her only companions now. She didn't need the boy – she needed only his Shikon fragment.

She briefly pondered taking the fragment from him by force. After all, her only intent now was to complete the Shikon no Tama, and purify both the jewel and Naraku once it was complete. But brute force was not Kikyo's style at all – she preferred to watch others collect the fragments. Midoriko's will manipulated the remaining fragments that were not in Naraku's position – all she had to do was wait and watch.

Yet… she did have work to do. In order to make sure that Naraku's malicious will did not taint the jewel permanently, she would need to ensure that at least one purified shard remained. The wolf demon, Koga – he had two fragments in his legs, but he was far away. This boy, Kohaku, on the other hand…

"Lady Kikyo." She nearly missed the soft words, but as she heard them, she turned. Kohaku was still standing, his cheeks red as he panted loudly. Kikyo felt a brief flicker of amusement as she watched him straighten his back and stare at her, apparently quite amazed that she had stopped.

"Lady Kikyo… I am sorry to have held you up." His voice was respectful. "I…" He appeared to flounder.

"You are tired." Her voice was quiet and amused. The demon slayer boy flinched, lowering his head.

"Y-yes. I know the… the fragment in my back usually keeps weariness at bay. But you have been walking for a while, my lady."

A while. That was an understatement. Kikyo had been on the move for four days straight, and she knew that the boy had been following her all the while. The fragment on his back kept him alive and unusually impervious to tiredness, but it could not fend off such exhaustion, it seemed.

"Indeed." Her voice was neutral. "Perhaps you would like to pause for a while."

She could see how he fought back feelings of obvious relief. "I would be grateful for the rest, my lady."

Kikyo did not speak, and merely seated herself on a nearby boulder. Kohaku exhaled loudly as he sat a few feet away, his back leaning against the scarred trunk of a twisted old tree, its branches bereft of leaves. The area they were in was a barren wasteland, and did not harbor much life.

"Why do you wish to come with me?" Kikyo regarded the boy through shrewd blue eyes. Her soul collectors soared into the air, presumably to gather more souls for her. Four days' walking had exhausted many of the souls within her.

Kohaku appeared confused by the question. "Because… because I feel that is how I can be of most use," he replied slowly. One hand reached behind him to touch his shoulder. "I know I must die eventually. I want to make sure I take Naraku down with me." His voice was determined.

Kikyo placed one hand on the boulder she sat on, running her fingers over the stone. It was cool under her palm, pitted with small scars and covered with an almost invisible layer of some sort of moss. She wondered briefly if it rained often in the area, and how the moss had survived.

"Brave words from a child." Kikyo's voice was quiet. "You seem much older than you actually are, Kohaku."

The boy shrugged slightly, interlacing his fingers and laying his hands in his lap. He did not reply.

"Very well." Kikyo got to her feet, inhaling deeply as her soul collectors appeared once more, bearing small silver nimbuses. They twined around her and released their hold on the souls, allowing them to be absorbed into the priestess's body. Kohaku watched the proceedings with an impassive face.

Kikyo glanced at him, her face softening ever so slightly. She remembered a conversation she'd had with someone, long ago…

_I want to live the life of an ordinary woman._

She had wanted a normal life, a husband to return home to and children to mother. She had doubted her path in life, and as a result, the jewel had picked up on her misgivings and become tainted. Now, it was her duty to right her wrongs and make sure that the jewel was purified.

Something in the boy's face made her chest ache. She felt an overwhelming urge to hold him close, to comfort him and to protect him. Was this what a mother felt towards her child? Kikyo closed her eyes, pushing aside her irrational feelings. She would allow Kohaku to accompany her merely because she needed to keep his Shikon fragment pure.

A small part of her mind knew that wasn't true. In a way, she was being offered a chance at something she had longed for fifty years ago, a wish that had been her undoing in the end. How ironic that she was allowed to act as a parent of sorts to a boy when both of them should be dead.

They were both so alike…

"Come with me."

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**AN: Ooh, I dunno why, but I REALLY like this piece! I love writing family relationships, be it mother/daughter or mother/son or father/daughter… okay, you get the idea! This is longer than my last piece – 1,069 words.**

**EDIT: Thanks to _Namike_ for telling me what I was too lazy to look up - that Kikyo's shikigami do not gather souls for her! I've changed that. (:**


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